FIFA allows anti-discrimination captain's armbands at Women's World Cup

The anti-discrimination "One Love" captain's armband denied to teams at the men's World Cup in Qatar will be worn at the Women's World Cup next month, but in an amended version now approved by soccer authorities.

FIFA, the sport's governing body, unveiled eight armbands on Friday that captains of the 32 teams can choose to wear in Australia and New Zealand during the tournament, which runs from July 20-Aug. 20.

They include a "Unite for Inclusion" option that is heart-shaped and multi-coloured but not quite the rainbow the Germany team wanted to use at the tournament, where a number of gay players will be among more than 700 selected on team rosters.

The armbands were developed over months of talks with national federations as FIFA aimed to avoid repeating the chaotic standoff with European players and officials last year that spilled into the first two days of games in Qatar.

FIFA said Friday the inclusion option was worked on with the United Nations human rights office in Geneva.

It is almost identical to the One Love design from the Netherlands that was deemed unacceptable to socially conservative host nation Qatar seven months ago.

Six colours — red, black, green, pink, yellow and blue — are layered in exactly the same order, only now in horizontal stripes instead of the Netherlands-created One Love's diagonals. The colours also correspond to the recognized flags of Pan-Africanism and pan-sexuality.

In Qatar, where homosexual acts are criminalized and labour laws were widely criticized, FIFA came under pressure to ensure some European team captains did not wear the One Love armband as promised. As the World Cup opened on Nov. 20, England captain Harry Kane, Wales captain Gareth Bale and Netherlands captain Virgil van